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“It’s not for Rasmus. I need it to subdue a different guardian—one who’s not in their right mind at the moment.”

“And if I refuse to tell you?”

I crossed my arms. “Ya can’t refuse, Jack. The magick will torture ya. I know it hurt just speaking that sentence to me.”

Jack threw himself down onto the cot Rasmus had spent the night on. He rattled off a bunch of stuff into the pillow. Magick tingled along my arms.

“Say all that again slowly. Conn and I need to write it down. Then I need to know where I can get some.”

Jack popped up and glared at me. “All hospitals carry propofol. They call it milk of amnesia. It keeps humans unconscious during medical procedures. We discovered it worked differently on guardians. It didn’t knock him out but it made him forget who and what he was. It also made him very susceptible to suggestion. That’s how we kept Rasmus under control.”

“How did ya capture him in the first place?”

“We used rhino tranquilizer.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face. “How can I shoot an eons-old being with rhino tranquilizer?”

Being a heartless bastard, Jack smiled at the reluctance in my voice. He knew I hated what he’d shared with me, but he relished knowing that I’d stoop to do what he and his people did.

“I don’t care what you do, Aran. I’m only telling you what we did. And it took an army to distract the guardian while one shot at him.”

“Jack...” I shook my head. “Why is power over others so important to ya? Is it because ya weren’t born with any?”

He rolled to his feet and laughed. “I find that ironic coming from a woman who thrives on using her powers. Think of it, Aran. You could take down all the nations working against our country. You could force people all over the world to live in peace.”

I rolled my eyes before glaring at him. “Ya can’t force people to live in peace, Jack. Humans have to choose to live in peace because it’s a better way of life. There’s this thing called free will and it would end our species to take it away.”

“We could at least fight on the same side if you weren’t so naïve about the world.”

I shook my head and sighed. “I don’t have a side, Jack. I have a job and it’s to protect the innocent. Most of them are hurting and have enough problems. Ya don’t need to be forcing yer will on them and causing more.”

Jack didn’t answer. He just glared at me.

And here we were again.

“Ya lost yer memory weeks ago, Jack. When I let ya go, ya’re going to have some catching up to do. I suggest ya get the other task done before the week passes. Our connection will remain until it does and ya’ll not sleep well until ya fulfill both commands. I have only one warning for ya. If ya spell our child ever again, I will take yer life without feeling a shred of regret. Do we have an understanding?”

“I understand you’re insane, Aran. Why would I spell our daughter? I would never hurt Fiona—never.”

“Maybe ya forgot, but Fiona hasn’t. Ya hired demons to spell her to sleep. And if I’m insane, it’s because ya made me this way with yer selfish actions. So ya best heed my warnings, Jack. This is more serious than anything ya ever did to me. I will see ya dead before I see our daughter hurt again by her father.”

When he started to protest his innocence again, I lifted my hand and chanted quietly. Jack walked to the cot and wearily dropped down on it. “Nap, Jack. Things will look different when ya wake up.”

When Jack fell sideways, I covered my face with my hands. “I should never have freed him. He’ll be vexing Fiona every day now. I’ll have to tell her what I did, even though I swore I would never do it.”

Conn lifted an eyebrow. “You would never have known what they did to Ramus if you hadn’t removed the compulsion from Jack. Both those drugs he mentioned are easily obtained.”

I nodded and lowered my hands. “Binding Jack took a toll on me. I’m going home to take a nap before tonight. Can you get what we need without my help?”

Conn pulled me close and hugged me. “I’ll take Jack home and take care of getting our supplies. Mulan can help me. I gave her a key to the house. She’ll probably be there if you need a shoulder to cry on.”

“I haven’t cried over that man in five years and I don’t plan to start up again today. It’s fairly clear now that Jack married me to recruit my powers for his own purposes.”

I rounded the corner and found Rasmus sitting on the steps. “Did ya get an earful of Jack’s wonderfulness?”

Rasmus smiled sadly and then nodded. “Jack isn’t the first man who ever misunderstood the woman he married.”

“No, I suppose not. Do ya mind moving yer big arse? Ya’re blocking the stairs.”